The Piano, Jane Campion

Take home QUIZ

These questions below will be used to assess your knowledge of some of the elements of narrative that we have discussed to date. This is a take home quiz. If you need to review this movie, it can be rented and type your answers. The copy I am giving you today can be used for note taking during the screening.

1. In general, what is narration and what is the narrator according to Bordwell in Film Art? (5 points)

2. The Piano begins and ends with Ada’s voice over narration. What function(s) does this have in the movie? (5 points)

3. Depth of information can be objective or subjective. In The Piano, we are given many clues to Ada’s subjective experience, even if she doesn’t speak. What are the ways we know her inner thoughts and feelings, her inner states? This can be discussed through objects (as tropes), through camera angles, through voice over narration, through music, etc. BE SPECIFIC in your response. Use examples from the film. (10 points)

4. On page 8 in the essay, “A Strange Heritage..” about the Piano, the writer talks about the camera work as having a point of view, as “a witness, directing the viewer’s attention in a very intimate way.” In what ways does this happen in the Piano? How does this affect our subjective experience of the film (esp. in our relationship to Ada)? (5 points)

5. Plot duration: the compression or expansion of an event for effect is done through film editing. There are some specific scenes in The Piano where duration is slightly manipulated as an effect to portray psychological or emotional significance. Where are these used and what is the effect? (10 points)

6. In “How to Read a Film”, the writer discusses the difference between connotation and denotation. What do these terms mean? Name one example for each. (5 points)

7. What are some connotative elements (shots, scenes, objects, people) in the Piano? For instance, what do the Maori represent?How is that conveyed? A discussion of Maori representation is found in the reading on Jane Campion’s films. What does the piano represent? How is this conveyed? (10 points)

8. Mise-en-scene is made up of several elements such as, setting, props, costume, make up, lighting, etc. Choose two of these elements from the book and discuss them in depth as they are used in the Piano to create meaning, motivate the characters, convey emotion, etc. Use specific examples. For instance, setting (and all the elements that make up setting) has very specific connotations in the film, and is portrayed in cinematographic ways to create meaning. (20 points)

9. What does the piano signify in the film, as an index and a symbol? If the piano is a sign of Ada’s thoughts and feelings, what kinds of thoughts does she have, and how is the piano represented to convey these? What are the different ways the piano is treated cinematically within the shot (paradigmatically), or through editing or shot to shot (syntagmatically)? For instance, paradigmatically—what kind of piano is it, and what are the relationships the piano has with culture, such as Maori culture or European culture? What does the piano mean as a trope, something that has dynamic meaning through out the film? In addition, what does the piano mean, not only to Ada, but also to Baines and Stewart? The essays in the reader discusses this in terms of value for each. (30 points)